


Smallest Shared Spaces

by boonies



Category: Dong Bang Shin Ki
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-18
Updated: 2012-11-18
Packaged: 2017-11-18 22:29:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/565991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boonies/pseuds/boonies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Changmin's always threatening to move out. Yunho beats him to it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smallest Shared Spaces

*

 

The thing is, Changmin's fucking _joking_.

 

It's the easiest, fastest way to win an argument. And it's hilarious to see Yunho freak out. It's funny. It's a _joke_.

 

He's never once _actually_ thought about moving out.

 

"But..." he says, staring at the neat stack of cardboard boxes, "...where."

 

Which isn't what he meant to say, but Yunho looks up from a mess of packing-tape and bubble wrap, and smiles.

 

"It's about twenty minutes away," he chirps as though they're discussing pizza toppings and not a life-changing event, "so you can swing by, like, occasionally."

 

Changmin can't feel his face. Or his feet or his body, really, so he just makes a helpless little gesture at the stuff Yunho's taking. "When did you even... just..."

 

Yunho turns wary, scooting closer to a bookshelf and not looking at Changmin. "Two days ago." He picks out three books, leaves seven on the shelf, and says, under his breath, "It's just... been so long, you know? People are starting to talk."

 

Who gives a shit.

 

Anger's bubbling up beneath the surface, simmering to a hard boil, but Changmin schools his features. "They've been talking shit for ten years and you never cared before."

 

Yunho gives a small nod, tugging on his sweater, then straightens to toss a couple of figurines into a box. "Yeah. It's just... I'll get drafted soon and—"

 

"So we can just live together until the army," Changmin reasons, fists clenching.

 

Yunho frowns, still not meeting his eyes.

 

Frustrated, Changmin mumbles, "We're saving a lot of money living at the dorms."

 

Yunho laughs, startled. "We've been saving money since we were fourteen, come on." He finally fixes his gaze on Changmin, and Changmin wants to cry.

 

"It's time, Min-ah."

 

And then he fucking moves out.

 

*

 

Changmin wakes up on day one feeling perfectly fine.

 

He goes to the kitchen like a normal person and eats breakfast and doesn't have to worry about saving any for Yunho. Doesn't have to wash two bowls. Doesn't have to wear pajamas.

 

It's nice. Liberating.

 

He takes a shower with the door open.

 

It's awesome.

 

And then he reaches for the toothpaste and it's not in the shower anymore. It's where it's supposed to be, by the sink.

 

There's no gross puddle on the bathroom floor where Changmin's socks would usually get all fucked up.

 

There's nothing.

 

*

 

 

On day two, Changmin comes home from the studio and says, "Don't forget to take your shoes off—"

 

But no one's behind him.

 

*

 

Three days in, and Changmin puts too much detergent into the washing machine.

 

*

 

By day four, he doesn't know how to fucking shop for groceries anymore.

 

He buys the same amount of shit, the same amount of healthy stuff, the same amount of fruits and vegetables, and then he's just not fucking hungry anymore.

 

*

 

On day five, their manager drops by the apartment and updates the schedule.

 

"Yunho's gonna be late tomorrow," he says. "He gets stuck in traffic now, apparently?"

 

Changmin glares until the manager gives him a helpless look.

 

*

 

A week later, and Changmin puts Yunho's new address into the GPS.

 

He drives across the city when it gets dark, mindful of sasaengs and cameras and idiots.

 

"I didn't _die_ ," Yunho says by way of greeting, opening the door, "I just moved. You _could_ return my texts once in a while, seriously."

 

Changmin strolls into the apartment, scowling.

 

He takes off his shoes and his coat and his scarf, and scrutinizes the place.

 

It's uncharacteristically clean and tidy and perfectly Yunho.

 

"I don't like it."

 

Yunho snorts. "You don't live here, so I don't really care?"

 

Changmin's eyes are burning a little, from the winter air or the scent of oranges or fucking whatever. "You have no taste."

 

Yunho watches him for a moment, then smiles. "Cool, I missed you, too, I guess."

 

Cheeks burning, Changmin stomps away, checking out the kitchen and the living room and the balcony and none of it impresses him at all.

 

"We gotta be at SBS by seven tomorrow," Yunho yawns when Changmin re-enters the kitchen. "You wanna crash here?"

 

Changmin goes home.

 

*

 

Two weeks into it, Kyuhyun drops by.

 

"Dude, we can have _so_ _many_ parties now," he says, eyes sparkling. "Let's fucking trash this place."

 

So Changmin gets everything they need, the booze, the food, the girls, and it's fun, and he laughs all night, and someone punches a hole in one of the walls, and it's just so fucking hilarious Changmin throws up for, like, an hour, sequestered in the bathroom, staring at a single bottle of shampoo.

 

*

 

"Your place is closer," Changmin tells Yunho after dance practice. "Can I come over and shower real quick and then I'll go home?"

 

Yunho's too sleepy to care, so Changmin walks with him to the car, scarf hiding half his face.

 

Sleepy, Yunho says, "I think I'm out of shampoo, though. Maybe conditioner?"

 

Changmin feels warm all over.

 

"Then let's go home first and take some from there," he says and snatches the keys from Yunho and starts for their old apartment.

 

Two minutes into the ride, Yunho dozes off against the car window, his gloved hands curled in his lap, and Changmin sneaks a glance at his profile at every red light.

 

Just to check if he's still breathing.

 

Yunho snaps awake when Changmin's busy trying to parallel park.

 

"Wait, why did we come here?" he blinks, scrubbing at his cheek. "We could've just gone to the store—"

 

Changmin hops out of the car and starts for the dorms.

 

Yunho follows him begrudgingly, muttering polite obscenities.

 

"Here," Changmin says helpfully, once they're in the bathroom, and thrusts a whole thing of shampoos at Yunho.

 

Yunho gives him an amused look. "Was there a sale? Did a shampoo store go out of business? Did you turn into a hoarder without me?"

 

Changmin shrugs.

 

Yunho tries to pocket the bottles into his coat but he runs out of places, and his eyes are sort of glazing over, and that's the only reason Changmin says, "You can stay here tonight."

 

Yunho sobers instantly.

 

"Nah."

 

*

 

The second time Changmin comes over to Yunho's place, there's a bad snowstorm.

 

"It's fine," Yunho shrugs, oddly irritated, "just sleep over."

 

Changmin's practically allergic to this apartment, but he doesn't want to die, so he stays. He claims the couch because Yunho doesn't really bother offering anything else, and shouts, "Can I watch TV?"

 

"Are you a child?" Yunho shouts back from his bedroom.

 

"Can I watch porn?"

 

Yunho comes stomping out of his room.

 

Changmin grins.

 

"Wanna watch a movie?" he asks and Yunho heaves the heaviest of sighs.

 

"Yeah, I guess," he says and grabs a really nice fucking cashmere throw and plops down next to Changmin.

 

"Popcorn," Changmin commands.

 

Yunho gives him a withering look, settling in. "I'm not getting up."

 

"I'm a _guest_ ," Changmin says with a pout.

 

Yeah, Yunho's gonna probably punch him but it's worth it.

 

This kind of thing is familiar.

 

This kind of thing Changmin can work with.

 

*

 

"Is that Kyuhyun?" Yunho asks over the phone.

 

Kyu's busy demolishing a chair with some girl, so Changmin covers his cell phone and whispers loudly, "No, just... TV. I lost the remote and... fuck it, you don't live here anymore, I don't have to lie."

 

There's silence on the other end.

 

"Don't do anything stupid," Yunho says and hangs up.

 

Changmin does ten stupid things.

 

*

 

He's been by himself for a month when it slips out during an interview.

 

"Yunho-ssi and Changmin-ssi don't live together anymore?" the reporter asks as though Changmin's just announced the apocalypse.

 

"We decided it was time," Changmin smiles courteously, then remembers Yunho's gonna read this article. "I... needed space."

 

*

 

Yunho says nothing.

 

For two days, Changmin keeps slipping copies of the magazine into Yunho's inbox at work, into Yunho's folders at the studio, into Yunho's coat during practice.

 

"Do you just not care?" he snaps on a cold Thursday, barging into Yunho's apartment.

 

Yunho's hair is disheveled and he's wearing a t-shirt like a girl would wear a t-shirt and it's fucking offensive and Changmin doesn't miss this at all.

 

"About...?"

 

_Me_ , Changmin wants to scream but he loses steam. He's hungry and he's upset and he doesn't know what's going on, so he takes off his shoes and grabs a seat at the dining table and presses his cheek to a coaster.

 

Yunho comes to sit beside him in silence.

 

After a moment, he lifts up his hand and Changmin sees him hesitate, but then he pats Changmin's head.

 

Changmin makes a soft noise, closing his eyes.

 

Gently, Yunho runs his fingers through Changmin's hair. He does this for a minute, or an hour, sliding his fingers in a soothing caress, until Changmin is calm and happy and asleep.

 

*

 

They're rushing from one promotion to another and there's no time.

 

There's no time to eat or sleep or brush their teeth, so they get their manager to run to the store and buy toothbrushes.

 

Yunho says, "Just one of those cheap ones, I'm just gonna throw it away later anyway," but Changmin writes down a list of things the toothbrush has to have.

 

It's a fucking expensive toothbrush.

 

Changmin leaves it in Yunho's bathroom.

 

*

 

"Where's that DVD I gave you?" Kyu frowns, rifling through the entertainment center.

 

"Hyung's place."

 

Kyu wrinkles his nose. "Okay, well, where's that shirt I told you I wanted to bor—"

 

"Hyung's place," Changmin yawns, sorting through his text messages.

 

Kyu pauses.

 

Changmin looks at him. "Shut up."

 

"I didn't say anything," Kyuhyun shrugs, diving back into the mess.

 

*

 

"Pick up some tteokbokki," Yunho orders.

 

Changmin sighs into his cellphone. "But I wanna eat hamburgers tonight."

 

"Pick up some tteokbokki," Yunho repeats, a little too brightly.

 

Changmin picks up some tteokbokki.

 

*

 

"How's the bachelor lifestyle treating you, Changmin-ssi?" an interviewer asks curiously, shoving a mic in Changmin's face.

 

"It's fantastic," Changmin says with a grin.

 

Later, he goes to his apartment and picks up some socks and a shirt and a hair-dryer and stashes them all at Yunho's.

 

*

 

Two months after Yunho gets his own apartment, Changmin wakes up on Yunho's couch.

 

"I should really get you a bed," Yunho's mumbling as he tucks a blanket in around him.

 

It's morning and it's cold and there's coffee brewing.

 

Changmin curls up, burying his face into a cushion. "Yeah."

 

*

 

"Where should I pick you up?" the manager asks, shouting into the phone over the blizzard.

 

Deeply distracted by a boss battle, Changmin squints at the TV, Yunho's blanket falling off his shoulders. "Wha?"

 

"Are you at _your_ apartment or...?"

 

The boss summons some supernova bullshit and wipes out half of Changmin's party, so Changmin drops his phone and absentmindedly shouts, "Yeah, mine!"

 

His phone rings half an hour later, when he's attempting to annihilate some stupid boss spawn that keeps poisoning his healer, so he picks up, distracted.

 

"YOU SAID YOU WERE HOME, YOU DICK."

 

Changmin blinks, trying to gather his bearings. Of course he's home. Where else would he be?

 

"I'm..." he starts, looking at the stylish walls and the expensive coffee table and the unread books on the mantelpiece. "Shit."

 

*

 

"Just until the army," Yunho warns when Changmin drags a beanbag chair into the apartment.

 

Changmin shrugs noncommittally.

 

"I'm serious," Yunho says, arms crossed.

 

Changmin kicks the bag until it looks comfy, then goes sprawling across it, grinning like an idiot.

 

"It's... so ugly," Yunho complains mournfully.

 

Changmin looks up at him, hanging upside down on the ugly beanbag chair, arms and legs outstretched, and smiles.

 

"Maybe you'll learn to love it, Yunho." He relaxes completely, eyes closing. "Maybe it'll become your favorite thing in the whole wide world."

 

Yunho's features soften. "Maybe."

 

*

 

"WHY CAN'T YOU PUT THE FUCKING CAP BACK ON THE FUCKING TOOTHPASTE, YOU ANIMAL."

 

"WHY CAN'T YOU BUY YOUR OWN, YOU BUM."

 

Toothbrush dangling between his lips, Changmin steps on a puddle of water by the sink and growls, livid.

 

He pulls the toothbrush out violently and takes a deep, furious breath, then pokes his head out of the bathroom to scream his head off.

 

Yunho's leaning against a wall, hair wet, drops of water still staining his t-shirt. He's grinning so hard his eyes are crinkling at the corners.

 

"We're having pizza for dinner," Changmin says, face burning.

 

Yunho's grin grows. "Nope. We're having tteokguk."

 

Exasperated, Changmin bangs his head against the doorway.

 

"What are you gonna do," Yunho taunts. "Move out?"

 

Changmin grins, satisfaction spreading down to his toes.

 

He slinks back into the bathroom, and continues brushing his teeth.

 

Yunho pokes his head in.

 

"We can have pizza tomorrow."

 

Changmin mumbles around his toothbrush, "Okay."

 

Yunho watches him for a moment, smiling.

 

"By the way," he says, "I accidentally erased your last saved game yesterday."

 

Changmin's toothbrush clatters to the ground. "I... it took me four hours to beat that boss."

 

Yunho looks not at all repentant. "We can have pizza today?"

 

Changmin processes this information, then savagely launches himself at Yunho.

 

Yunho ducks, fleeing to the living room, a contrite, "WE CAN HAVE PIZZA EVERY DAY" echoing behind him.

 

Changmin only really hears _we can have_ and _every day_.


End file.
